I live for you (Robin x Zoro)
by Anna519
Summary: The Straw hat crew must face new enemies on their journey, however some of the crew find themselves closer than ever to each other, and so discover new feelings which until now were secretly locked away.
1. Chapter 0

**0 - Prologue  
**

Swords clanged in the distance, sharpening on each other with each blow as lightening shot down from another area nearby. There were also what seemed to be like cannon shots, teamed up with the great aim of a long-nosed companion. Among these people were also four others, a small reindeer - often mistaken as a raccoon dog - who tended to an impatient blonde, with eyebrows that curled into his brow as he shouted absurdities at the moss-haired swordsman. A tall skeleton with a strange afro stood nearby, chuckling to himself by an amused lady with long black hair as they watched their captain; Monkey D. Luffy, fly into the air with a grin on his face as he yelled.

"Gomu gomu no jet pistol!" His arm shot forward for a finishing blow, extending and colliding into his enemy's face. His team, so to speak, had also fallen one by one under the lightning strikes of the orange haired beauty Nami, to whom the blonde cook Sanji cheered on with hearts in his eyes. Roronoa Zoro, the swordsman, had also finished his battle with the infamous 'Santoryu,' sliding his swords back into their sheaths whilst simultaneously cracking his neck.

"Beat you there stupid cook," Zoro grinned at Sanji.

"You wanna go right now and see who's the strongest here?" Sanji scowled, simultaneously getting up and being thrown back on the floor by a set of hands which had erupted from the ground.

"Thanks Robin," Chopper the blue-nosed reindeer said, "but please be more gentle with the patient!"

Sanji however was unaffected by this, as he stared up at the tall beauty and squealed "anything for Robin-chwan!" At this, Usopp and the cyborg Franky had also finished their part and were walking back from their "super" win, or so could be heard in the distance.

Their captain was already walking back to them, his hands behind his head, ecstatically announcing "well now that that's done I think we should have a feast! We're going to need lots of meat of course Sanji."

"Yeah yeah whatever you say captain maybe you should be a little more patient as I get bandaged up here!" Sanji moaned, annoyed at his captain's appetite.

"But damn I could really use a drink after that," Nami sighed whilst running her hand through her hair. This was enough to get the cook back on his feet and shooting towards The Thousand Sunny. Chopper called out to him, exasperated, but gave up almost instantly. If anything he was at least glad that Sanji wasn't getting life-threatening nose bleeds anymore.

"Yohohohoho!" Chuckled Brook, "that was quite a fierce battle Luffy! I was so surprised I couldn't believe my eyes, even though I have no eyes, Yohohoho!" Everyone couldn't help but laugh at his antiques, and before everyone knew it was evening, and a grand feast was laid out on a table by a glowing fire.

Of course, priorities went to the "lovely ladies" Robin and Nami, as per stated by Sanji, but once they'd taken their plates Luffy was already stealing all the meat and Brook was playing on his violin. He'd chosen to play his violin to "Bink's Sake," giving his title as Soul King a rest in order to reminisce on the pirate classic.

Usopp, Chopper, and Franky were already dancing along to the music, balancing chopsticks between their mouths and noses. The arguably calmest of the group sat down by the tree trunk. Zoro drank sake, content and feeling revived at his most recent battle, yet at the same time he found that it was no challenge. Robin sat by him, dropping his green robe around his shoulders.

"You forgot to put this back on," Robin commented, smiling momentarily at Zoro.

"Heh," he took another drink, a small smile also resting on his lips, "it was warm, and I doubt anyone was complaining."

The conversation ended there, yet though short it was satisfying to them both. Sitting by each other, they watched their crazy crew celebrate upon their recent victory, allowing Robin to contemplate.

She remembered the events of Enies Lobby, which changed her previous attitude that kept her distanced from everyone in the crew, and how they'd all risked their lives to save her. When she joined the crew, she joined on the basis that Luffy was responsible for keeping her alive, but since Enies Lobby she realised just how much she wanted to live. How much she had to live for. And not just for her crew either.

Robin wondered to herself, "I wonder if this happiness will last?" But then shook her head lightly. "I won't question it. I'll just stay happy with the friends I have, I'm happy to be alive."

As the night grew old the music faded, and most of the crew were on the grass, snoring away happily. Zoro took his last sip of sake, and before resigning himself to sleep took a quick look at the peacefully sleeping Robin who was sat just a few feet away. She'd fallen asleep with the corners of her mouth turned up into a little smile, and with that image implanted in Zoro's mind, he too closed his eyes with a smirk on his face, falling into a deep sleep.


	2. Chapter 1

**1**

The sea was calm as the Thousand Sunny drifted along for the Straw hats crew next destination. It had been 5 days since the recent feast in celebration of their last adventure, and now the crew were ready for their next adventure.

"When are we going to get there?" Moaned Luffy, as he sat next to Usopp, Chopper and Brook, each with a fishing rod in their hands. "There's no more meat, we're going to starve! NAMI! When should we arrive at the next Island?" He called out to the unbothered Nami, Laying on a chair and sunglasses on, enjoying the light breeze.

"We'll get there when we get there," She stated, to Luffy's dissatisfaction.

"And maybe," called out Sanji, "We'd have enough food to last us if it wasn't for you eating all the food all the time! I swear I need a lock on this fridge." He lit up his cigarette with a look of disgust; "and besides there's plenty of food left, we have vegetables."

"But I want meat..." Luffy moaned.

"I wouldn't mind a bit of Takoyaki," Brook commented, looking at his empty fishing line sadly. "Like the one we had back before we went to Fishman Island... ahh that would be sublime indeed."

Zoro was sat on deck by the front of the ship, sleeping as per usual by his sword, undisturbed by the frequent complaints coming from the hungry four fishers.

A quick jolt vibrated through the ship.

Nami took of her sunglasses quickly and got up, looking out in to the still calm sea, "what on earth was that," she wondered, looking over the deck in search of a possible reason for the disturbance.

Another jolt, this time longer - as if the ship was being dragged over something.

Franky appeared on deck, coming up from his work; "Something weird is going on."

"Yeah I think that's a bit obvious," Nami said as she frantically looked over the edge of the ship, the four fishers also intrigued. "Maybe you should actually find out what's making this noise!"

"I have, this ship is my pride and joy - I'd never let it break. I had a look but there was nothing, the sea is as clear as it looks from below," Franky scratched his head with the extended hand that would come out of his normal hand. "This makes no sense whatsoever!"

"Everything is clear from up here!" Robin called down.

Nami took a look at her log pose, but nothing seemed to be amiss. "I don't like this..." Luffy appeared next to her.

"Wait why is it twisting like that?"

"Wait what are you talking about," Nami looked down at her log pose and found that it began to frantically twist around, not pointing in just one direction anymore but in literally every direction. The grinding noises begun again, getting louder and more violent, even waking up Zoro.

"What's going on here?" Zoro was just as confused as everyone else, looking at the clear blue sky which did not match the storm that seemed to rage through the core of the ship. Robin had come down on deck with everyone else by this point, the look of confusion on her face matching Zoro's.

"I'm gonna have a look," yelled Luffy, already heading over the side of the boat.

"Idiot!" Sanji followed after the devil fruit user who clearly kept forgetting he couldn't swim. But before he could even catch up, the Thousand Sunny suddenly plunged down. Everyone screamed, Chopper crying as he held onto the mast, but then transformed into human size to grab Usopp who was screaming at the top of his lungs when he hadn't grabbed on to something on time.

The ship suddenly stopped again, and many of them fell back down on to the floor. "What's with that sudden drop?" Nami cried out, "none of this makes sense, we should be under water but we're not!" In fact, the scenery looked almost exactly the same. The same blue sky and the same calm sea, but for some reason they were all falling. This fall quickly resumed, and Robin - who had slipped when trying to gain balance - was suddenly flung to the edge of the ship and almost over board. Just as she was about to go over, Zoro had stuck one of his swords into wood of the floor, and extended his other arm so to catch her by the waist.

Robin had lost her voice from the fear of almost dying, and she was not alone. Fear had made its way into the eyes of all of the crew, each with no clue as to what was happening. Zoro brought Robin's body against his, clutching her tightly to him whilst holding steady to the sword which decided their fate.

A sudden growl in the wood reverberated throughout the ship - the sky suddenly darkened and the calm seas which surrounded them were replaced with tall mountains, dark and rough. The ship had arguably crashed into a sea, which made no sense as they had been sailing quietly and clearly dropped a few hundred feet.

Franky ran over to the edge, "I see an island!" The rest of the crew followed him, looking over the edge.

"Have I mentioned I have a phobia of places that look like hell," Usopp shivered, backing away from the edge. No one answered, they just stared in awe at the sigh they beheld. Nami looked at her log pose, which had calmed down but continued to circulate slowly.

"This looks so cool," Luffy muttered, but his enthusiasm was not shared as usual. In fact, he himself seemed to question where they had suddenly fallen.

"Could this be some sort of illusion?" Brook spoke, "I can't believe my eyes, though I don't have any... Yet somehow I don't feel like this skull joke really fits right now."

Even Brook had been struck to silence. It was not so much that they were scared of what they saw, rather what it was that got them there.


	3. Chapter 2

**2**

Looking around, the strawhat crew saw a thin transparent sky, clouded over and blocking the daylight which seemed to be the sky they were only watching not more than 20 minutes earlier. Rickety slopes surrounded the back of the Thousand Sunny, marks on the rock giving evidence that the ship had somehow slid down it.

Luffy reached back then shot his arm up into the air - it went quite far up before he reached his limit, then it snapped back. "Something is definitely wrong, the air seems thicker up there."

"Like you'd be able to reach the sky like that," Nami sighed.

"He has a point," Robin interjected, coming closer towards the group. "It seems that we've fallen below the surface, though how that would be possible I'm not sure. This place doesn't seem to have oxygen as Fishman Island did."

"Please tell me I'm not the only one seeing that thing!" Usopp squealed, readying his weapon at the winged sea monster, which was perched near the ship, watching through the slits of its eyes. It seemed to be a cross between a sky and underwater beast, though also gave an air of intelligence. It had rusty purple scales covering it's body, it's tight lipped exterior stood tall.

"I'll get rid of it," Zoro said, beginning to unsheathe his swords."

Sanji put a hand out "no you stupid swordsman, it's clearly not going to attack us. And it's not a normal sea monster.."

"And when did you become a Mr. know it all you darn cook?" Zoro tapped his shoulder with the blunt edge of his sword, glaring at Sanji.

"Well I'm using the brain I have!" Sanji sneered.

Chopper jumped in between them, "Sanji is right Zoro, he doesn't mean any harm and honestly, I think he'd be the one with an idea of what's going on around here."

"Well maybe you should hurry up and ask him," Usopp urged, nudging the resistant Chopper forward.

"He doesn't look too friendly-" the monsters wings outstretched, and he began to lift himself into the air. A gush of wind knocked Chopper over, but Luffy had already locked on to his target.

"Right you're not getting away!" Luffy stretched his arm and grabbed onto the beasts claws just in time, springing towards the beast and through an invisible wall which the beast seemed to have just gone through. An invisible wall seemed to be the only explanation for their suddenly disappearing into nothingness.

"That idiot!" Nami shrieked, "does he not realise the situation? We have no idea where we are, there's a creepy fish-bird hybrid playing a failed tourist guide, an ominous island and he decided to follow the bird!"

Brook stepped forward: "I think we need to investigate, I'm quite curious about this island. It may just be me, but the view seems to change ever so slightly."

They all nodded in agreement. The hellish looking island seemed to shift in its exterior, what was apparently rot and decay for grass, and high trees preventing light from entering a supposed forest, now seemed to have and orange-like heat in the air, slight tremors running through the core of the island.

Despite his silence Franky instantly agreed; "This looks super! Completely different, maybe I'll get some inspiration for a all new super weapon." He pressed his nose and hair shot out into a Mohawk style. He ran his hand over and began to bring the ship to a slow paddle so they could dock closer to the island.

"I'll stay behind and take care of the ship, you all go ahead!" Nami grinned. Usopp stood by her.

"Yeah I'll watch the ship as well!"

"Hey no fair you cowards!" Chopper moaned, who'd also wanted to volunteer to stay behind.

Robin had already got her bag together and was stepping down, landing with a small thump on the ground. Zoro followed suit, whilst Sanji looked between Robin and Nami, his allegiance torn. Franky took Usopp by the arm, who struggled against him crying out.

"No please I can't die yet!" Usopp sobbed.

Robin walked towards the thicket, observing the area and where she remembered seeing Luffy and the hybrid disappear. She stuck her hand out and walked forward, until the tips of her fingers suddenly felt icy. She pulled back and looked at her hand, then stuck it out again, this time further. Her whole hand felt cool now.

"Robin-san! You hand, it's disappearing!" Brook announced to Robin's surprise, she could still see her hand but to the others who voiced their agreements, it seemed that her hand had truly gone invisible.

"I think this is that wall Luffy and that hybrid just went through, I'm going to go through now," and with that Robin stepped forward, her whole body chilling to the bone - the dense atmosphere lightening and allowing easier breathing - until suddenly she couldn't breathe anymore. Her eyes widened.

Each of the straw hat pirates followed Robin one by one, each disappearing into the invisible wall. Zoro went in, followed by Sanji, Franky - with the still sobbing Usopp - then Brook, Chopper, and with some persuasion Nami too after they agreed it would be okay to leave the Thousand Sunny. Each of them had a level of apprehension, but no two people seemed to arrive at the same destination.

Fire, death, the heat of a buster call struck Robin's face. Despite the sudden heat, cold sweat ran down Robin's spine as she relived her childhood - Ohara was burning. _What is this?_ Robin looked around panicked, and started to head for the tree of knowledge. She pushed past countrymen who were all hurrying away from the blaze of fire, seeking refuge on the shore - refuge they would not achieve.

Memories rushed back into Robin's mind, the firm hug of her mother, her insistence that she was proud of Robin, that she must hand down her history and live life to the fullest. Robin shook her head violently at these memories, she suddenly felt like a child again, she did not want to relive this. But all the same she continued to run towards the last place she saw her mother, and when it was finally in view the tree fell.

She knew what that meant. Her mother, as well as the rest of the archaeologists, were reported dead after the tree had fallen, assumed to be perished in the fire. Robin fell to her knees. _I couldn't even save them this time..._

She brought her hands up to the sides of her head, scrunching up her hair in her hands, tears outlined the lids to her eyes, a few escaping to her lashes and dropping defiantly down to her lap.

"No," she shook her head, memories flooding back into her like a film strip. "No, no, no!" Saul freezing over, her escape and constant running, the constant threat of CP9. Always running. Her whole world was burning right in front of her and even now she was powerless.

"I can't handle this anymore," Robin's voice became louder, her tears wept more freely - to be confronted with these past events so realistically, right in front of her eyes: it was too much. She was powerless.

Suddenly a hand covered her eyes. A pulse. "What is this-"

"Stop. Breathe," a husky voice murmured.

Robin tried to move away from the hand, but it closed in more firmly across her eyes, another arm wrapped around her firmly. Suddenly, the pulse was in tune with a heartbeat, and the rhythm it created became louder than loud fire of Ohara, the buster call and screams in the distance. The sound started to fade.

"What's going on?" Robin whispered, the shock of what she'd just seen still pulsating through her body, her heartbeat in a panic.

"Relax. This isn't real, you're not alone," Robin recognised the voice, and concentrated on it, using every essence of her body to focus on it. Soon there was nothingness, just a heartbeat.

 _Ba-bum, ba-bum, ba-bum._

The hand slowly moved away from her face; Robin shuffled around to face Zoro who was kneeling next to her, one of his arms still around her.

"What was that..." she stuttered, her heart beat steadily calming down as she breathed in the cold, humid air. The atmosphere was dark and gloomy, she had no idea where she was.

"From what I just went through, I'd say that was a display of our greatest nightmares," Zoro, murmured, clearly having been shaken himself but maintaining a calm exterior.

"So you too?"

"Yeah."

They stayed like that for a moment. He lifted a hand to her cheek, wiping it. "You're still crying."

Robin's hands shot to her face and hurriedly wiped away any show of weakness, then Zoro pulled her in with his other hand into a firm hug. Her shaking began to cease with his arm planted around her waist, while the other stroked the back of her head soothingly.

"Thank you from waking me up from that," Robin muttered into his collarbone, whilst regulating her breathing.

"I meant what I said," Zoro stated. Pressing himself closer, he found that her arms had wrung round his back into a sort of squeeze, a search for comfort. "You're not alone."


	4. Chapter 3

**3**

It was not long before Zoro and Robin's meeting, that Zoro too had experienced his own nightmare. He didn't seem to have one solid nightmare, he was good at hiding his concerns, burying them somewhere. He had his pride to hold onto, all he had to do was move forward. But all of these nightmares in succession, even a man such as he could not simply take it in and brush it off. And it all began with Kuina.

Zoro stepped through the invisible wall that Robin had went into only moments before, and was greeted by an icy shock which caused him to shiver slightly. Everything suddenly cleared up, he was greeted with a dark night sky and a soothing, cool wind. Zoro looked around him, finding that he seemed to recognise his surroundings. Abruptly, he stopped.

"No."

That one word escaped his lips, he had to but only turn a little more to see it. Yet he didn't understand, he wasn't so sensitive to this that he couldn't even look at it, but fear persuaded him to shiver at the thought.

"This isn't right," Zoro stated, finally giving in and looking round to Kuina's grave. Suddenly a sickness hit him in the stomach and he keeled over, and when he opened his eyes the grave was gone and instead Kuina's young form stood. She smiled down at him.

"The world's greatest swordsman... That's what you promised you'd be, right?" Kuina smiled, placing her hands on her hips. But when her eyes opened, Zoro was not greeted with kindness; "what kind of pride is that? We made a promise, it had to be either one of us. But I bet you were relieved, relieved I died that day so you wouldn't have anything in your way."

"You're wrong! I did blame myself for you death, but it couldn't be helped! The only thing I could do was keep going towards my goal, what kind of swordsman would I be otherwise?" Zoro's heartbeat raced, words came out of his mouth and emotions filled his head but at the fore front of his mind all he could think was "this is not right."

"But I don't want you to die," Kuina smirked. "I want you to suffer."

The landscape changed again with a sudden gust of wind. Kuina had disappeared, but her voice lingered like a narrator as Zoro swivelled around in shock to find himself in the shop where he had acquired the Sandai Kitetsu.

"Imagine," the voice said.

"No," Zoro repeated this, he wasn't sure what to do but he knew something was wrong. "Wait..." These ideas circled in his head, repeating constantly; no, something is wrong, stop, continuously. Why?

The voice continued; "that your little test for this sword, went wrong?" He threw the sword into the air, and watched it fall down to his arm.

"What if... you could never be a swordsman again?"

He wouldn't be able to train under Hawkeye, he wouldn't be worthy to continue as a member of Luffy's crew. He would never be able to fulfil his promise.

The sword inched closer at a frightening rate, Kuina's breath heated the back of his neck: "What if... you were to die right here?"

Using pure willpower, Zoro wrenched his arm out of the way of the falling Sandai Kitetsu, the tip of it grazing his arm and staining the cloth with his blood. He grabbed the hilt of the sword before it completely fell to the ground and with it, struck Kuina who was stood there, behind him. Her face was of shock, tears welling up in her eyes.

"But why, Zoro, why would you go so far as to kill me with your own hands!"

"Don't you ever," Zoro scowled, squinting down at her weakened body, "ever, dare to disgrace Kuina's memory, you pathetic illusion." And upon pulling his sword out, her body turned to dust and moved with the rest of the scenery, everything fading in a sudden whirlwind until Zoro found himself in the rotting dark decay that resembled the woods they had already seen.

He glanced down at his arm, observing the wound but shrugging it off once he determined it was minor and sheathed his Sandai Kitetsu.

"You haven't let me down once."

He looked around him, searching for possible destinations, but there was truly no sign of where to go. He couldn't even go in the wrong direction, for there seemed to be no right direction. Everything was constant, the air was chill. The silence was deafening. His blood pumped through his veins, deceiving his pride and providing the little evidence left that for a moment he had felt of the nightmare he experienced.

Zoro chose a direction and began to walk, hoping to find someone else from the crew who might be able to explain what was going on. He considered however, his circumstances and the unrealistic experience he had just gone through. It had clearly been an illusion, and picked on what could essentially be described as one of his worst experiences. There were many more he could have been confronted with, but he was confronted with that one.

"A nightmare huh," Zoro gave a quick chuckle, "if you wanted me to suffer, there were other things you could have done." He spoke to himself, but hoped to be heard. "I have a feeling this was caused by _someone_ , not something."

He stilled, listening.

Sobbing.

He turned and sprinted towards the sound, the pats of his steps the only other sound he could hear in that dreary place until he came upon Robin, kneeled down on the floor and crying. His heart clenched.

"Robin," he called out to her, coming closer and trying to face her, noticing her hands clenching the hair at the side of her head. "Robin, snap out of it!"

But it was no good. "No!" She shook her head, "no, no, no!"

"Robin listen to me," Zoro pleaded, but alas she seemed to be unable to see him. The tears began to fall more heavily, and all he could think to do was to touch her. To shield her somehow and hope it would help. He knew that she would probably have to exit the illusion by her own will, but he didn't know what horror she was facing. There wasn't necessarily some object to cut down, maybe there was nothing she could do.

"I can't handle this anymore," she whimpered loudly, he could see her breaking. He wouldn't let her. He closed himself around her and covered her eyes with his hand, his chest pressed against her back. "What is this-"

"Stop, breathe."

He tightened his hand over her eyes and put his arm around her with the other. He could feel his pulse still going fast from earlier, but now it seemed to race a little faster.

"What's going on?"

"Relax. This isn't real, you're not alone."

Soon he felt her body relax a bit, choosing that moment to remove his hand from her eyes but instinctively keeping his other hand comfortable around her as she turned to face him.

"What was that..."

"From what I just went through, I'd say that was a display of our greatest nightmares."

"So you too?"

"Yeah."

He looked down at her face, confused for a moment of what to do. She was truly beautiful to his eyes, so gracious and strong, but this moment of weakness he witnessed seemed to create an intense desire in him to protect her, to hold her when she was at her weakest. She was indeed capable of taking care of herself, and if worst came to worst he would trust her with his life. Yet witnessing the pain she had gone through in every tear that escaped her eyelids made him vow to himself: When she's in pain, when she's weak, when she needs someone, he decided at that moment that no matter what he would be there for her.

He went to caress her cheek, and with it wiped away a tear, "You're still crying."

"Thank you for waking me up from that."

Her face, buried into his collarbone. Her relaxing body in his arms. He stated his vow to her in as few words as possible.

"I meant what I said. You're not alone."

He held her there for a while, both of their heartbeats calming down yet still remaining slightly heightened. His arms around her, her willingly against him - this had never happened before but felt right to him. He felt her cheeks lift, and instantly knew a smile had woven into her expression. He too smiled into her hair, momentarily happy that she could smile like this, with him. Because of him?

They then separated, adopting their usual expressions and standing up. "What's the likelihood of any of the others being around here?" Zoro asked, partially to himself. Robin shook her head dejectedly.

"No idea, from the look of things everyone was separated. It's a surprise you even managed to find me."

"Well I had no idea where I was going, figured I was going the wrong way."

Robin chuckled at this, "and so of course, you went the right way." He raised her eyebrow at her and she waved her hand as she laughed lightly, "Don't worry. Let's go and look for the others."

Zoro nodded in agreement, and they both began to make their way further into the decayed forest.


End file.
